This invention generally relates to powered sliding vehicle doors. More particularly, this invention relates to a toothed belt drive device that provides automated movement of a vehicle sliding door.
Conventionally vehicles have included hinged doors and sliding doors to provide access to a vehicle interior. Vehicle doors had been manually operated for many years. More recently, powered moving door arrangements have been proposed and implemented. A variety of configurations are known.
One difficulty associated with a powered arrangement for moving a sliding door is that the tolerances between the vehicle body, the vehicle door and the hardware used to mount the automated moving device can make it difficult to maintain an accurate alignment of the necessary parts to achieve reliable and smooth door movement. At the same time, suppliers to vehicle manufacturers are constantly striving to minimize costs, which tends to place limitations on the potential designs.
There is a need for an improved arrangement for moving a sliding vehicle door. This invention addresses that need while avoiding shortcomings and drawbacks associated with prior attempts.
In general terms, this invention is a device for automatically moving a sliding vehicle door that biases a moving belt into engagement with a cooperating track such that rotary movement of the belt results in a linear, sliding movement of the vehicle door in a desired direction.
One vehicle door assembly designed according to this invention includes a door that is selectively moveable relative to a corresponding opening in the vehicle body. A track is supported on the door or a portion of the vehicle body near the opening that is closed when the door is in the closed position. A belt cooperates with the track such that rotary movement of the belt causes linear movement of the door relative to the opening. The belt is supported on the door when the track is supported on the vehicle body near the opening. The belt is supported on the vehicle near the opening when the track is supported on the door. A biasing member biases the belt into engagement with a corresponding portion of the track.
In one example, the belt and track have corresponding teeth that are cooperatively engaged with each other such that rotary movement of the belt results in relative linear movement between the track and the belt.
In one particular example, the belt follows a loop around a drive wheel member and a passive wheel member. A motor controls movement of the drive wheel member, which controls movement of the belt around the loop. The biasing member in such an example biases the portion of the belt associated with the passive wheel member into engagement with a corresponding portion of the track.
In one example, the biasing member provides a rotary biasing force, which pivots the belt arrangement about the axis of rotation of the drive wheel member. In another example, a brace member supports the passive wheel member such that it remains spaced apart from the drive wheel. The brace member is supported to be pivoted about a selected pivot axis so that the biasing member urges the brace member and the passive wheel member in a direction that causes the portion of the belt associated with the passive wheel member to engage a corresponding portion of the track.
The various features and advantages of this invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art from the following detailed description. The drawings that accompany the detailed description can be briefly described as follows.